Thankfully Thankful

This year has been a hard one. Not just for employment reasons but for personal reasons, as well. I started the year feeling hopeful for what was to come, planning on growing my business, and maybe being able to write and publish full-time. I had a pretty good part-time job as a housekeeper for a vacation rental company, which enabled me to work on my business.

Then COVID-19 hit. The Coronavirus. The bad juju. The vacation industry tanked and I was looking for another gig. I was able to get a part-time job with a car rental agency that offered the opportunity to stretch my marketing muscles. I was a publisher for a magazine and so was very much into marketing (more on this later). This job was great because not only was it considered essential, but the pay was good and the company was good.

If only I had been smarter. They say everyone is a sucker at least once and I was suckered. I had rented a car to a gentleman and everything looked legit. The name on the card and driver’s license matched so I wasn’t too concerned. He looked and acted normal and even had a decent conversation with him. I handed him the keys and he took off. I went to input the information into the system (something I should have done in the first place) and it declined.

All the information that had been submitted was of no help. The phone number didn’t connect to anyone and the motel he was staying at was unhelpful. Much later, I learned he was a schizophrenic and drove down into Mexico. Not only was that illegal/not allowed, but he crashed the car. I saw pictures and it was wrecked. It felt like I had been punched in the gut. I knew how lucky I was and the fact that I was so foolish as to allow this to slip past my radar made me angry at myself.

I was out of a job. I don’t blame them and would have done the same thing if I was in their position, so there are no hard feelings. That was only the first quarter of the year, though. For a while, I just worked on my business, tried to sell ad space in the magazine, finish a book, plan a new one, and somehow be present in my family. Luckily, I got back into the housekeeping job and was able to provide. As 2020 drug on and my anxiety grew and grew, the world seemed to be falling more and more apart.

When the thought of quarantine and the holidays came up, I found it difficult to think of things that I would be thankful for. But I wake up with four things that I’m thankful for every single day. My family. My wife has been with me through every bad decision I’ve ever made and has loved me through it, sometimes with tough love. My health is good, my mental health had stabled since going to therapy, and somehow my three children have enough food to eat.

There has been a fire ignited inside of me to build upon my success in switching gears and becoming the content coordinator for the magazine. My business is contracted out to a private media company to manage content for a private neighborhood magazine. I get to do what I love and continually strive to make it better, all the while working on building something that I want to outlast me. Perhaps one of my children will take it over.

2020 isn’t over yet, and the hits keep coming. Not only did Sir Sean Connery leave us, but my uncle left the family. It was a hard hit as it came as a surprise, which is darkly humorous to think of something so natural can come as such a surprise. But it did come as a surprise, as no one knew he was ill. Maybe I’m getting too personal but writing has been my way of coping with bad times all through my life.

In short, I’m thankful for what I have not because I have a lot, but the value of the relatively little I have far outweighed this year's hardships. Family, health, happiness, and a way to support my family. However 2020 chooses to end, I don’t care. I’m going to celebrate Thanksgiving with a thankful heart and look forward to the new opportunities the next year has for us.